Clinical interventions

• Aims of Treatment

  1. Psychotherapy: psychotherapeutic interventions tailored to the client's specific needs and goals

  2. Medication Management: Collaborating with psychiatrists or other medical professionals to prescribe and monitor psychotropic medications

  3. Crisis Intervention: Providing immediate support and intervention for acute psychological distress, suicidal ideation, or other crises

  4. Skill-Building: Teaching clients adaptive coping skills, emotion regulation strategies, problem-solving techniques, and interpersonal communication skills

  5. Behavioral Interventions: relaxation training, or contingency management, to modify maladaptive behaviors and reinforce adaptive ones

  6. Family Therapy: improve communication, resolve conflicts, and address family dynamics that may contribute to the client's difficulties

  7. Psychoeducation: diagnosis, treatment options, coping strategies, and relapse prevention to enhance their understanding of their condition and empower them to actively participate in their recovery

  8. Case Management: Coordinating care and collaborating with other healthcare professionals, community agencies, and support services
• Introduction to Assessment

  1. Assessment is simply the collecting of relevant information in an effort to reach a conclusion (Comer, 2012)

  2. Clinical assessment is used to determine how and why a person is behaving abnormally and how that person may be helped

  3. It enables clinicians to evaluate people’s progress after they have been in treatment for a while and decide whether the treatment should be changed

  4. Clinical interviews are face-to-face encounters (Cepeda, 2010; Segal & Hersen, 2010)
• Table of Contents

  • Introduction to Assessment
  • Behavioural Approach
  • Psychodynamic Approach
  • Cognitive Approach
  • Pharmacological Approach
• Psychodynamic Sessions

  1. Psychodynamic therapy sessions are intense and open-ended, dictated by the client’s free association rather than a set schedule or agenda

  2. Typically scheduled once a week and last about an hour

  3. Modern psychodynamic therapy is generally less intensive than Freud’s psychoanalytic therapy

  4. Substitutes a pair of chairs for the stereotypical couch and usually places the therapist and client face-to-face

  5. Used alongside other therapeutic approaches to manage chronic mental health conditions such as depression, anxiety disorders, personality disorders, and PTSD
• Main Treatment Approaches

  • Psychodynamic Approach
  • Behavioral Approach
  • Cognitive Approach
  • Humanistic Approach
  • Pharmacological Approach
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  Their demand curve shifts right, increasing the equilibrium price and quantity
• Types of assessment approaches

  • Psychodynamic Interviews
  • Behavioural Interviews
  • Cognitive Interviews
  • Humanistic Interviews
  • Biological Interviews
  • Sociocultural Interviews
• Assessments and treatments in clinical psychology are tailored to the individual needs, preferences, and strengths of each client, with the overarching goal of promoting psychological well-being, functioning, and recovery
• Psychodynamic Approach

  1. Psychodynamic therapy involves the interpretation of mental and emotional processes rather than focusing on behavior (Gad, 2017)

  2. Psychodynamic therapists help clients find patterns in their emotions, thoughts, and beliefs to gain insight into their current self

  3. Focuses on resolving internal conflicts and intrapsychic tensions contributing to psychological distress

  4. Explores and works through conflicts between different parts of the self and unresolved issues from the past (Comer, 2012)
• The Rorschach inkblot test is a projective psychological assessment tool commonly used in psychodynamic theory
• Psychodynamic Sessions

  1. Establishing Rapport

  2. Exploring Present Concerns

  3. Examining Patterns

  4. Interpretations
• The main goals of psychodynamic therapy are to enhance the client’s self-awareness and foster understanding of the client’s thoughts, feelings, and beliefs in relation to their past experiences, especially as a child
• Psychodynamic Tools

  • Psychodynamic Diagnostic Manual
  • Rorschach Inkblot Test
  • Freudian Slips
• Goals of Psychodynamic Therapy

  • Enhance the client’s self-awareness
  • Foster understanding of the client’s thoughts, feelings, and beliefs in relation to their past experiences, especially as a child
• Psychodynamic therapy is used alongside other therapeutic approaches to manage chronic mental health conditions such as depression, anxiety disorders, personality disorders, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
• Psychodynamic Sessions

  1. Addressing Resistance and Transference

  2. Promoting Insight and Self-Awareness

  3. Supportive Exploration

  4. Setting Goals and Homework
• To solve the problem of disagreement over diagnostic criteria, a Psychodynamic Diagnostic Manual (PDM) was released in 2006 as an alternative or complement to the DSM
• Freudian slips refer to unintentional errors or slips of the tongue that reveal underlying thoughts, desires, or motives that are typically hidden from conscious awareness
• Free association may provoke an especially intense or vivid memory of a traumatic event, called an abreaction
• By analyzing Freudian slips, psychoanalysts aim to uncover unconscious conflicts, wishes, and motivations that may be influencing the client's thoughts, feelings, and behaviors
• Free Association

  1. The client spontaneously expresses thoughts, feelings, and images as they come to mind, without censoring or filtering them

  2. The therapist listens attentively, without interrupting or guiding the client's associations, and observes the patterns, themes, and connections that emerge
• Catharsis

  The process of emotional release and purification, encompassing the expression and discharge of pent-up emotions
• Psychodynamic Therapy is not recommended for

  • Psychosis
  • Acutely suicidal patients
  • Learning difficulties
  • Developmental disorders e.g. autism
  • Organic brain injury
  • Patients who take not responsibility for their problems
• Transference

  Occurs when the client unconsciously projects onto the therapist emotions, expectations, and patterns of relating that are reminiscent of significant figures from their past
• Manifest Content

  Refers to the literal content of the dream experienced by the dreamer during sleep
• Word Association

  1. The therapist presents a series of words, and the client responds with the first word that comes to their mind upon hearing each word

  2. The client's spontaneous responses can reveal underlying patterns, conflicts, and psychological themes that may be influencing their thoughts and behaviors
• Refer: 'https://youtu.be/1aCFIKR-X0s'
• Abreaction

  The release of pent-up emotions and associated memories through the process of reliving past traumatic experiences
• Countertransference


  Refers to the therapist's unconscious emotional reactions, attitudes, and responses to the client, influenced by the therapist's own past experiences, unresolved issues, and personal dynamics
• Dream Analysis

  1. The interpretation of the symbols, images, and themes present in a person's dreams to gain insight into their unconscious thoughts, emotions, and conflicts

  2. The therapist aids the client in sorting the “manifest” content from “latent” content
• Limitations of Psychodynamic Therapy include length and intensity
• Latent Content

  Refers to the underlying, symbolic meaning or hidden message concealed within the manifest content of the dream
• Classical Conditioning Techniques

  1. Aversion Therapy

  2. Exposure Therapy

  3. Flooding

  4. Systematic Desensitization

  5. Graded Exposure
• Limitations of Psychodynamic Therapy

  • Length and Intensity
  • Limited Empirical Support
  • Focus on Past Experiences
  • Lack of Structure
  • Limited Applicability
  • Potential for Dependency
• Operant Conditioning


  • Behavior is strengthened or weakened by consequences to modify behavior and promote positive changes
• Psychodynamic Therapy is not recommended for

  • Psychosis
  • Acutely suicidal patients
  • Learning difficulties
  • Developmental disorders e.g. autism
  • Organic brain injury
  • Patients who take not responsibility for their problems
• Behavioural therapy


  • Observable Behaviors
  • Learning Principles
  • Behavioral Techniques
  • Collaboration
  • Short-Term and Problem-Focused
  • Evidence-Based
• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)


  • Identifying and changing dysfunctional patterns of thinking and behavior
  • Grounded in the idea that thoughts, feelings, and behavio
• Operant Conditioning

  1. Reinforcement

  2. Punishment

  3. Token Economy
• First-wave CBT (1950-1970s)


  • Cognitive Restructuring: Identifying and challenging distorted or irrational thoughts
  • Behavioral activation: Helping individuals increase engagement in meaningful activities
  • Symptom-Focused Approach: Targets specific symptoms or problems
  • Collaborative and Active: Therapist and client collaboration
  • Structured and time-limited: Focused on addressing specific treatment goals within a predetermined time frame
  • Homework Assignments: Given between therapy sessions to practice and apply skills learned